Kraft Heinz is officially moving its Canadian headquarters to Queen’s Quay terminal in Toronto. And beyond part of its continued investment in its brands and teams.

After 40 years in north Toronto, Kraft Heinz Canada is moving to the seventh floor of Queen’s Quay Terminal, an initiative the company says has been in the planning stages since before the pandemic. The move includes 350 employees who will make use of 600 work, meeting, breakout and enclave spaces, alongside technology optimized for hybrid meetings.

“We gathered many key learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic, especially when it comes to the evolving workplace habits and needs of our employees, and these learnings have helped inform our in-office experience and hybrid working model at Kraft Heinz,” says Daniel Gotlib, head of marketing and strategy at Kraft Heinz Canada. “We needed to build a dynamic workspace that will keep pace, attract top talent, promote agility and foster connection, collaboration and community within our organization and with our partners.”

According to Gotlib, the new Canadian headquarters marks “a new chapter” for Kraft Heinz in Canada. He describes it as a continued investment in its brands and teams in the marketplace, which will enable the company to grow and “enrich our ecosystem of external innovation partners.”

Being in the downtown core, Gotlib notes, will provide an environment of inspiration, especially around food culture as the company’s continues to evolve with the changing Canadian consumer. To that end, the new space includes not just a café, coffee bar and micro-market space with grab-and-go options, but also a culinary center under construction on the ground floor, with modern technology and appliances.

The onsite culinary center will allow Kraft Heinz to closely collaborate with and host customers, chefs and colleagues in-person – including developing, tasting and testing new products. The culinary center is also equipped with the same hybrid meeting technology that’s present in the office’s other working spaces.

Gotlib tells strategy one of the ways the company is welcoming employees and sharing the news is through a media buy at Union Station and nearby bus shelters that introduces Kraft Heinz to the new neighbourhood. The messaging features Kraft Heinz’ teddy bears, which have longstanding brand equity associated with its peanut butter, but also recently, coffee.

Over the last few months, Gotlib says Kraft Heinz has also been sending employees monthly email newsletters with information on the new headquarters, sharing videos of the space and hosting Q&A sessions, with programming, events and giveaways planned for employees’ first week in the new office.

The company partnered with Syllable on the design of the new space and Marant Construction on the build.